


Fortune Reversed

by goodfairyofny



Category: Persona 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 06:17:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11178819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodfairyofny/pseuds/goodfairyofny
Summary: What if it was Naoto who had an obvious crush on Kanji but didn’t know how to win his affections? The rest of the team knows how hard she’s been crushing on him, and he’s totally oblivious. Cross posted at FanFiction.net.





	1. Chapter 1

Naoto Shirogane had felt completely out of control since the moment she met him. His file at the Inaba Police Station did not prepare her for the punch straight to the gut that she felt when she first approached Kanji Tatsumi and looked him in the eye. She also wasn’t prepared for all the blushing and stammering and obvious gentleness that came from the boy the entire police force had labeled a delinquent. It took every ounce of willpower she could muster to come across as the cool, confident, boy detective that she was accustomed to presenting herself as. And yet she couldn’t keep herself from letting things slip. Things like the words “I’m interested in you.” Naoto cringed as she thought about the conversation. _Way to remain professional, Shirogane._ The cringe melted into something entirely different when she thought about those light grey eyes, and how lost she could get in them if she allowed herself. Naoto’s stomach flipped at the thought of staring into them. He had said he wanted to see her again when they parted, didn’t he? Which made absolutely no sense as he had no idea she was female. _Unless, maybe it doesn’t matter?_

She felt frantic when she realized he had turned up missing a few days later. She had asked around town, avoiding anyone who might find her inquiry suspicious. Unfortunately, it had gotten her nowhere. When the Seta kid approached her at Junes asking about Kanji, she was stunned… and felt compelled to help as much as possible. As embarrassing as it was to be a detective and unable to locate a missing boy, she was aware that this strange group of teens might be in the right position to find him. Perhaps she should have gone undercover as a high school student, as it would have allowed her access to this social circle and aided her investigation. The first murder victim had been found by the second, yet another student at Yasogami High School. She had also noted a case the police had marked unrelated that involved a missing girl, another Yaso High student whose family ran the inn that the first victim had been staying at prior to the murder. The girl had turned up a few days later, with no explanation of where she had been. And then Kanji.. He had been missing for a week when Seta approached her for information. A day later, he was back at home. Naoto considered setting another meeting with him, to question him about his whereabouts. Two more days passed before he returned to school. She wondered if he had been sick, or hurt. She fought the constant urge to see him again. _Just to make sure he’s alright… and gather information for the case._

In an attempt to behave like a professional, Naoto resisted. She couldn’t, however, resist spying on his home from across the street. When he left for school that first morning he looked disheveled, but not unwell. _And rather handsome… Oh, stop, Shirogane! You’re a detective, not a schoolgirl!_ She had not been waiting for him to return from school, when she glimpsed him walking home by the river that afternoon. She had honestly gone there to think, not realizing he would take that route home. In the future, it would make for a convenient spot to “run into” him. She noted that Kanji was spending a lot of time with Seta and his gang of friends, which also included the formerly missing Amagi girl. It did not feel like a coincidence to Naoto. 

A month later, another student was taken. This one happened to be a high profile celebrity who had moved back to her hometown recently. Within days of her arrival she mysteriously disappeared. She spotted Seta and friends, including Kanji, asking questions around town about the girl. _How on earth are they involved with this?_ She learned that Seta was Detective Dojima’s nephew, which was even more strange. Why would the nephew of the lead detective on the case be meddling with the investigation? When the girl magically resurfaced and immediately began spending time with Seta’s group, Naoto confronted them. They of course refused to tell her anything. Was this some sort of a cult? What was Seta doing to make them follow him? Was he responsible for their disappearances to begin with somehow? She thought about approaching Kanji directly and asking. He had said he wanted to see her again, hadn’t he? The first time she confronted Seta, he hadn’t been there. The second time he had, and he seemed shocked by her presence. Uncomfortable. Maybe a little bit unhappy. Naoto frowned when she recalled the look on his face. It hadn’t been what she was expecting, nor what she had been hoping for.

Naoto decided that it was time to reconsider her thoughts about going undercover as a student. She had not been in formal education since she had began assisting her grandfather with detective work. She was sure that he would like the idea of her attending school for awhile. All it took was one phone call. Grandpa had her enrolled at Yasogami High by the next morning. She would be in the same class as Kanji, and the idol, Rise Kujikawa. Perhaps it would be helpful to get close to them. What she wasn’t sure of was whether she wanted to get closer to Kanji because of the case, or because she had not been able to stop thinking about him for months. Naoto purchased her school uniforms, the one the boys wore, of course, and went to bed early with the intention of finding out what it was that she wanted at school the next morning.


	2. Chapter 2

After an awkward introduction to the class, Naoto took her seat - the only empty seat, directly beside Kanji Tatsumi. His eyes were on her, so she gave him a slight nod as she sat. Kujikawa was in front of him, and she was sitting sideways in her seat, beaming at Naoto. It seemed it would be easier than she thought to get close to them. Hopefully gaining their confidence would be a simple task as well. While Tatsumi didn’t seem particularly interested in the lesson, he also didn’t look her way again. It wasn’t until she saw Rise looking at her with an eyebrow raised that she realized she had spent the entire lesson staring at him. The next subjects proceeded in much the same way. She found it odd that he didn’t look at her at all, almost as if he was trying not to. It bothered her so much that she didn’t realize she was watching him for the majority of each class. When the bell rang for lunch, Rise turned around in her seat. “Are you coming to the roof for lunch, Kanji-kun?”

“Nah,” he replied. “Not in the mood.” And with that, he got up from his seat and left the room. Rise looked at Naoto.

“Well, I wonder what his problem is. How about you, Naoto? Want to have lunch together?” Her smile was full of mischief. Naoto knew it was probably a horrible idea, but if she was going to get close to the group, socializing with them would be the best way. 

“Yes, that would be… I would like to.” She nodded and set off with Rise. On the walk towards the stairs, they passed by Kanji, who was unhappily confiding something to Seta. 

“Heeey, senpai!” Rise called out, waving to Seta as they passed by. He nodded at her, and Kanji looked up with a look of embarrassment on his face. He looked directly at Naoto for just a moment before moving his gaze to the floor. She followed Rise to the stairs that led to the roof. While they were in the stairwell alone, Rise said in a low voice, “so, you like Kanji-kun, huh?”

“Wh-What?” Naoto stuttered. “What would make you say that?” 

Rise smirked. “Because you haven’t taken your eyes off of him all morning,” she replied. “And you only looked my way once, and it was way different.” Naoto frowned. “Oh, but don’t worry,” Rise said. “I won’t say anything.” Naoto wondered how she had been so transparent, especially when she had no idea what she really felt for the boy. 

“Please don’t,” she said softly. “I… wouldn’t want to cause any... unnecessary trouble for him.” _What on earth am I saying? You aren’t making any sense, Shirogane!_

Rise nodded, with a more serious look on her face. “Alright.” Then the wicked smile flashed across her face once more. “But I bet he totally likes you, too! You should just tell him how you feel!” Thankfully, they had reached the roof, and the conversation ended as Rise opened the door. The only other students on the roof were also members of Seta’s little cult. All of them were second years. Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, and the Amagi girl. Yukiko, Naoto recalled from her file. She lit up when she saw them approach.

“Oh, Rise-chan! And hello, Naoto-kun. Are you going to join us for lunch?” Yukiko asked.

“Y-Yes,” Naoto began shyly.

“I tried to invite Kanji-kun as well, but he totally blew me off! Then we saw him talking to senpai in the hall,” Rise added.

Chie frowned. “I wonder what he and Souji-kun are talking about.”

“Well, whatever it is, it isn’t good!” Rise exclaimed.

“Kanji-kun looked rather unhappy,” Naoto said quietly, looking at the ground.

Yosuke started laughing. “And you’ll soon learn that that’s pretty much how he always looks!” Naoto raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, stop it, Hanamura!” Chie yelled, punching him on the arm.

“Hey! It’s not like it isn’t true! He has that kind of sad look, and the angry look, and the really, really angry look...”

“That last one’s usually because he’s about to punch you for being an idiot!” Chie shouted, smacking him again.

“Is this… normal behavior for them?” Naoto asked. 

“Oh, yes,” Yukiko answered. “They’re pretty much always like this,” she said, frowning in their direction. “Here, Naoto-kun, you can sit over here by me,” she added, indicating a free spot on the wall. Naoto nodded and sat between her and Rise. She tried to deflect most of the conversation, letting them talk while she ate her lunch and observed. It was hard to stop thinking about the look on Kanji’s face in the hall. _Did I do something to upset him? Did he.. Notice that I was watching him? I need to work harder to ensure I don’t make him uncomfortable._

When Naoto returned to the classroom with Rise after lunch, Kanji was already there. “Hey,” he said, nodding at Rise. She flashed him a smile and took her seat, facing the front of the room. When Naoto sat, he put his head down on his arms and looked at her. It was almost as if he was trying to ask her a question without words. Before she could say anything, the teacher came in and began the afternoon lessons. Naoto tried hard to pay better attention, and to not stare at Kanji the entire time. It seemed the roles were reversed, as every time she allowed herself to glance at him, he was still looking at her with those light grey eyes. During the third lesson, a terribly boring history lecture, she couldn’t take it anymore. When she turned towards him again and found he was still looking, she raised an eyebrow at him. He shook his head slightly, showing a hint of a smile. She turned away, trying hard to keep from smiling back.

When the bell rang, Naoto was surprised at how quick the other students were to gather their things and leave. Both Rise and Kanji were gone immediately, in different directions. Naoto took her time. When she finally left the school gates, she decided to take her usual detour by the river. She knew it was a habit that she needed to break. It wasn’t necessary to walk home this way, and since she would see Kanji in class every day, there was no need to watch for him after school. Still, she couldn’t help it. She cut through the Samegawa, and there he was, standing by the river, looking at the water. He looked deep in thought. Naoto took a breath, then walked up beside him. He looked down at her, still with that thoughtful look in his eyes. “How was your first day?” he asked.

“More… interesting than I expected,” she replied, meeting his eyes. Because of his height, she had to look way up to meet them. What she saw there was worth it. Unfortunately, he looked away, back to the water. 

“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, “ he said.

“N-No. You didn’t,” Naoto insisted. _You sound completely desperate, Shirogane._ The change in tone got his attention. He cast his eyes on her, from top to bottom, before finally moving back up to hers. It felt… unsettling. _Exciting. No, unsettling. Both, maybe._

“I should get going,” Kanji said slowly. “Told Ma I’d help out at the shop this afternoon. See you later, Naoto.” He turned and walked out into the shopping district. Naoto watched him go, waiting to head home until she could no longer see him. She was grateful for the long bus ride, as it gave her time to collect her thoughts. _I have got to get over this desire for him to look at me. It isn’t even me that he’s seeing. All he sees when he looks at me is this puny boy detective who takes everything way too seriously._ By the time she arrived at her apartment, Naoto had convinced herself that it was ridiculous to keep thinking about Kanji Tatsumi. Then she went inside and spent her evening thinking about him anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

When Naoto first heard about the class trip, she was completely mortified. Detectives didn’t have time for such trivial social excursions. Then she thought it through, and decided it could be a good opportunity to pump Seta’s group for information. She would bring some work with her to fill in all of the “free time”, and look for opportunities to gain information from the others. The first years had to stay together in one car of the train. She attempted to approach Kujikawa, until she realized she was sitting in a huge group of gossiping girls. Naoto would not have felt comfortable there, especially when many of them had been sending her pink and purple perfume scented love notes all week. She didn’t want to be asked if she got the letters, because she had been throwing them directly in the trash. _There is only one person I would read a letter like that from…_ Naoto shook her head to clear it, and set off towards a less crowded area in search of a seat. She felt her cheeks burn as she realized where the only open seat was. Naturally, it was right next to Kanji Tatsumi.

“P-Pardon me, Kanji-kun. May I sit here?” she said, feeling extremely nervous. His eyes snapped up to hers.

“S-Sure. Yeah, whatever,” he said. He turned back to the boy he had been talking to. Naoki Konishi. She had a file on him as well. His sister Saki had been the second murder victim. She was surprised he had even come on this trip. He had even more reason to not want to be here than she did. She opened the files she had brought, and began to read them. After a few minutes of trying to tune out the conversation next to her, Naoto was completely absorbed in her eavesdropping.

“So which one of them are you into?” Naoki asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kanji said.

“I mean, you spend time with all of these girls. It’s Yukiko, right?”

“Wha - No, it is not Yukiko-senpai. That would be super weird.”

“Why’s that?” Naoki asked.

“We’ve been friends with her since kindergarten. That’s weird.”

Naoki laughed softly. “She’s quite lovely, though. I’m guessing it’s not Chie. She’s as loud as you are. Can’t see you going for that. So that just leaves Risette. I can’t believe it. Kanji Tatsumi is in love with an idol.”

“H-Hey! I am not! She’s.. She’s not my type.”

“Really? So who is your type, then?” Naoki asked.

Kanji turned and glanced at Naoto. She had been pretending to read her case files. _Why would he look at me? Because he doesn’t want me to overhear?_ Naoto’s heart was pounding. She looked up at him and noted that he looked extremely anxious. He quickly turned back to Naoki. “N-Nobody. Nobody is my type.” Naoki laughed happily. It wasn’t a sound you would expect from someone who had recently lost a loved one. “I’m serious, man! Knock it off!”

“Fine,” he said. “You really should just tell me. You’d feel much better about it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kanji insisted.

When the train arrived in Port Island, Naoto exited slowly. She hated how awkward situations like this were. She had no experience with interacting with others this way. She wished she had thought ahead and requested a private room at the hotel. It was going to be difficult for her to share a room with two other male classmates. She supposed she wouldn’t be getting much sleep. 

The visit at the school was interesting. The professor gave quite an intriguing lecture about mythology. A rather unexpected topic for a school exchange trip. Most of Naoto’s classmates looked bored. The first and second years were together, and she noted that both Kanji and Rise were sitting with Seta’s group. She remained focused on the lecture except for once, when her eyes drifted over to them. Kanji was looking her way. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep her mouth from turning up in a small smile. He blushed and looked away, which made her smile even more as she returned her attention to the front of the room. 

That evening, the students were given free time in the city, and Naoto decided to venture into a club at the strip mall. It was not the type of place she frequented, but she had heard that they stopped serving alcohol because the club’s regular customers were mostly high school students. To avoid any trouble, they simply removed alcohol from the menu. She was at the bar questioning the bartender about these rumors when Kujikawa entered, dragging the rest of the group with her. After some debate, she managed to convince Naoto to join them upstairs in the private balcony. 

It was obviously a huge mistake to go with them. Naoto had been hoping to get information about the case out of the teens. Instead she got a bunch of idiots drinking soda who thought they were drunk, juvenile games, and animosity. The game had been Kujikawa’s idea, of course, and involved a king making ridiculous requests of the others. Kissing and sitting in laps, and other inappropriate behavior. Part of Naoto was glad that she had chosen not to participate. And another part thought that maybe she should have. She felt a funny feeling in her stomach when that strange boy Teddie threw himself at Kanji, demanding a kiss. _Am I… jealous?_ She kept insisting loudly that the others were not drunk, as the establishment no longer serves alcoholic beverages. And yet, her bubbly drink sure was making her feel warm and tingly. It was almost as if she was sipping on champagne instead of melon soda. She was having a hard time keeping her thoughts straight, and her eyes off of Kanji. _He’s just so… appealing._ She shook her head when she realized that Rise was asking her a question. 

In the end, the others had simply made fun of her when she asked for information. She felt angry and hurt. It wasn’t until they had gathered downstairs to make a plan for hauling the drunks home, that she calmed down. “They didn’t mean anything by that,” Kanji murmured softly. Naoto nodded and felt herself relax. She could analyze it later. She felt too tingly to respond appropriately anyway. 

“Souji and I are taking Ted back, and Chie’s got Yukiko. Kanji, you take Rise… You’ll, umm, help him get her back, right Naoto-kun?” said Yosuke. Why on earth was she being dragged into this? After a moment’s thought, she nodded her head again. She supposed she was fine with walking back with Kanji. And Rise, who was unfortunately unconscious at the moment. Kanji looked down at Naoto.

“You’ll come with us, yeah?” he said, looking a little bit worried.

“Yes,” she said, grabbing onto his arm and heading for the door with him, Rise already thrown over his other shoulder. Naoto failed to notice that she had actually taken his hand as they walked out. She could hear Hanamura snickering behind them, and it made her blood boil. She vaguely remembered conversing with Kanji on the walk to the hotel. At least, she knew he’d been talking to her. Had she been answering? It was hard to remember. When they got Rise back to her room, Chie appeared and took her inside. That just left Kanji and Naoto alone in the hallway. She was only vaguely aware that he seemed to be holding her upright. _Is that his arm around my waist?_ She was still clinging to his other arm when she stopped walking and tried to face him.

“Thanks for helping me get Rise back,” he said softly. “We should probably get to bed before anyone sees us out here like this.” Naoto blinked, and her heart sped up. She placed her other hand on his chest and leaned in towards him. He always smells so good. 

“Th-Thank you, Kanji-kun. I-I suppose you’re right.” She looked up and realized that he had walked her to her own room, as well. She didn’t even remember them heading this way. Weird. She finally broke away from him and headed to her door, hesitating and looking back at him. “Goodnight,” she whispered. 

“Yeah, ‘nite. Get some rest, Naoto,” he said before he turned and walked off. Naoto sighed, then quietly snuck into her room and into her bed. Luckily, they had stayed out long enough for her roommates to be asleep already. She kept thinking about what had happened that night, but it was already hard to recall most of it. Her mind kept focusing on that hand on her waist and his tantalizing scent. _Maybe school trips aren’t a complete waste of time, after all._ It took a very long time to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Naoto was happy that the school trip was over with. The morning after the club excursion had been awkward at best. It would seem she had also been behaving a bit like a drunk, which made absolutely no sense. There were rumors within Seta’s group about her behavior, and it was not flattering. She was certain the rumors were Hanamura’s doing, and it was likely he had made it all up as a way of teasing her. The part that made her stomach hurt was the fact that Kanji had been avoiding her ever since the train had arrived back in Inaba. _It shouldn’t bother me this much._ And yet it did. It was incredibly distracting and drained much of her energy to watch him ignore her in class every day. He had also stopped walking home through the flood plains. Naoto wasn’t sure if he even knew that she looked for him there after school. For whatever reason, he had found another route home, or somewhere else to be when the bell rang each day. 

Between this “little distraction” that was consuming half of her time, and frustration over the murder case that took up the rest of it, Naoto felt completely miserable. The police had pretty much written her off when she insisted that Kubo was not the real killer. Her grandpa was overseas working on his own case. And the teens she thought she had bonded with at least a little at school seemed uninterested in spending any time with her. She was on the verge of a breakdown when Kujikawa invited her to eat lunch together, just the two of them. She wasn’t sure if she felt relieved to be asked, or even more frustrated, but she didn’t hesitate, accepting right away. “So, Naoto-kun, how have you been? We really haven’t gotten a chance to talk lately,” Rise said.

“I.. am fine, Rise-san. How about yourself? You have seemed… busy, lately. All of you have for that matter.”

Rise tilted her head, thinking it through. “Huh. I suppose you’re right about that. Although you have seen us at school every day. Well, at least, me and Kanji-kun.”

“Hmm. Yes, that’s true,” Naoto said with a frown. Rise grinned like the cat that got the cream. “What is that look for? Stop that, please,” Naoto insisted.

Rise giggled. “I was just thinking that you seemed rather bothered that Kanji-kun has seemed… busy lately. Hey, is it true what Yosuke-senpai said? About what happened in Port Island?”

“Nothing happened in Port Island,” Naoto said with irritation. “Hanamura-senpai is just spreading rumors because he thinks it will get to me.”

“Aww, Naoto-kun. Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, you like Kanji-kun, don’t you? So what if you held his hand?”

“I - That is irrelevant, Rise-san. I did not hold anyone’s hand in Port Island.”

“Alright, then. I wonder what you did to make him avoid you like this, though.”

Naoto looked down at her barely touched lunch. “He… He will not even look at me. I don’t know what I did to offend him.”

“Well, cheer up, Naoto-kun! He’s not the type to stay mad forever! And he has actually been kind of busy lately. We’ve been training with Souji-senpai.”

“Training?” Naoto asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Oh, umm, like studying… so we’ll do better on our finals! That kind of training,” Rise corrected. Naoto still found her wording to be suspicious, but she let it go. “You know,” Rise commented, “you look really tired. Is everything alright?”

“Yes, Rise-san. It’s just… the case. Things are at a standstill right now and I have been keeping late nights trying to figure out what it is that I’m missing.” She didn’t intend to say that much. It was unfathomably hard to hold things back when speaking with Rise Kujikawa.

“But… didn’t they already catch the killer?” Rise asked hesitantly.

“No. I do not believe Kubo is the real killer. At least, not of all the victims.” At this, the bell rang, and they gathered their things and headed back to class. 

After another afternoon of watching Kanji Tatsumi ignore her, Naoto was exhausted. She took her time at her locker, clearing out all of the love notes and placing them in the trash. She arrived at the school gates just in time to see Rise and Kanji approaching the others, heading off with Seta in the lead. _Perhaps it’s time to see where they have been going every day._ She had followed suspects countless times before, so staying hidden was no problem. She found it disappointing to find out that they were only going to Junes. They gathered around a table in the food court, surrounded by snacks. None of them pulled out a textbook, so the studying excuse Kujikawa had come up with was clearly not the truth. 

After observing for a while, Naoto had enough. She was too frustrated to not do something. She approached the teens and confronted them, practically begging them to tell her how they were involved in the case. Naturally, they all denied it, and of course, they were extremely defensive about the topic. She left feeling even more miserable, frustrated nearly to the point of tears. _And he still wouldn’t look at me, not even a glance._ She began to wonder about some of the bizarre things that Amagi had spouted while drunk. Was she really just making fun of her, or was there something to that personas and tv’s rubbish? As it was the only lead Naoto had left, it deserved a bit more thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Naoto had been shocked to find out that everything Amagi had said about the television was true. Unfortunately, getting herself kidnapped meant that she spent days trapped in there with her shadow. It was not a comfortable or ideal situation. The worst part was when Seta’s group came to rescue her. Her shadow let her secret out in front of the others. She wasn’t sure who seemed more shocked, Hanamura or Tatsumi. The others were surprised, but accepting. Much more accepting than she had been of her own self. After she accepted her shadow and they left the TV, Kanji told her she was too reckless, and called her a dumbass. She supposed it was better than ignoring her completely. Over the next two weeks while she recovered, all of the others visited her apartment to see how she was. Except for him. She had no idea what to think of this. The rest of the teens seemed to get over the fact that she had lied to them for months immediately. Perhaps he was having a harder time with it. Maybe it would be best to apologize?

The day she returned to school, she cornered him at lunch, in an empty stairwell. “Kanji-kun,” she began, looking way up to meet his eyes. “I wanted to apologize for my previous behavior.”

“Uhh, what?” he asked, looking at the floor.

“For… the way that I lied to you. And to everyone. About… myself.” He looked at her curiously for a moment, searching her face, then shrugged and looked away.

“Whatever. Ain’t a big deal. Are we done here?”

“O-Oh. I suppose.” She wasn’t entirely sure what direction the conversation had gone in. Was he angry? Had he forgiven her? Did it even matter to him to begin with? “I-I have asked the others to meet after school to discuss the case. I would like it if you were there as well,” she said softly.

“Uhh, yeah, right. Junes, yeah? Senpai already told me.”

“I will see you later then,” she said, finally stepping aside to let him pass.

“Yeah, later,” he called over his shoulder. Naoto couldn’t help but feel disappointed at how determined he was to get away from her. 

The meeting at Junes that afternoon went well. Other than a few outbursts about her recklessness and not trusting the police, Kanji kept quiet while the others questioned her about the kidnapping. Seta agreed to let her join the team, and no one objected. She began attending the regular team meetings where they all brainstormed about the case. She often asked to train on meeting days. As she was the newest member, she was also the weakest. She took every opportunity to get stronger. Kanji never chose to train when she did. From what she understood, he was training on different evenings when Seta-senpai and a few of the others were free. Naoto couldn’t help feeling like it was personal, but she had no evidence to back it up, so she said nothing.

It seemed like every time she tried to talk to Kanji, something went terribly wrong. She complimented his scarf on the way into school one morning, and he got all defensive, insisting that it wasn’t new. She had merely said that it was a nice color on him. She had stopped asking if he was going to train after the meetings when he glared at her and told her he had more important things to do. And when she congratulated him on a better than usual exam grade, he snapped at her to stop making fun of him. Naoto felt crushed. She had genuinely been proud of his effort. Rise had been present for this last catastrophe. “Oh, Naoto-kun,” she soothed, “don’t take it so personally. He’s just really… defensive about certain things.”

“I’m not even sure that’s the real problem,” Naoto sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“I have absolutely no idea how to talk to boys, Rise-san. A month ago, everyone thought I was one. I have no experience with this whatsoever.” Rise’s face lit up with a happy smile.

“Well you’ve come to the right person, Naoto-kun! Come with me, we’re going to have us a little lesson called Risette 101: How to talk to boys and make them unable to resist you!”

“O-Oh, no, Rise-san, I don’t think that will be -”

“Uh uh, you’re not getting out of this one! You really need my help with this. I promise it won’t be painful.” Naoto sighed again.

“Fine. When do we start?”

“Right now! Let’s go to my house!” Rise answered. _Oh, what have I done? This is a terrible idea,_ Naoto thought. Thankfully she was able to talk Rise into discussing other topics on the walk home. It would have been bad if someone had overheard. Especially considering that half the town still believed her to be male. When they arrived, they said a quick hello to Rise’s grandmother, and then Naoto was dragged upstairs to Rise’s overwhelmingly pink bedroom. 

“Alright, let’s get started,” Rise began. “What else have you tried besides making Kanji-kun feel like a failure?”

“I-I did no such thing!” Naoto exclaimed. Rise shrugged. “I… I have tried complimenting him. And asking about his training schedule.”

“Hmm… and he got all defensive, right?”

“Y-Yes, how did you know?”

“Because Kanji-kun _always_ gets defensive when he thinks someone’s teasing or nagging at him. Complimenting him isn’t a bad tactic, but you have to give some cues that indicate that you’re interested in him,” Rise explained.

“What sort of cues?” Naoto asked.

“Weeeeelllll, like, you should lean in towards him when you talk to him. It shows that you’re interested in what he has to say!”

“A-Alright. I suppose that makes sense.”

“And you should definitely show a little skin,” Rise added.

“Absolutely not!” Naoto shouted. Rise burst into a fit of giggles.

“Oh, come on, Naoto-kun. You want him to _notice_ you, don’t you?” Rise taunted. It was true, but this tactic sounded all wrong to Naoto.

“Yes, but -”

“Then you’re going to have to give him a little something to notice,” Rise said with a wicked grin. “Nothing too major, at least at first. But that shirt of yours could stand to pop open a button or two.”

“W-What?!” 

“Whatever it is that you’re doing to keep things, umm, under wraps is going to keep anything from really showing anyway. It’ll just give him the impression that there might be something he’d like to see there,” she said with another ridiculous smile.

“I…” Naoto wasn’t sure what to think of this plan at all. Maybe Rise was right. She certainly had more experience with this than Naoto did. “I will think about it.”

“Great! Hey, do you want to try on some of my clothes? It wouldn’t hurt your cause to try something new while you’re at it.”

“No. No, I don’t think I want to do that,” Naoto said, turning pale at the thought of the frilly, feminine things in Rise’s closet. Rise winked at her.

“Alright. We’ll save that for phase two.” As Naoto tried to object, Rise laughed and dragged her down the stairs to look for snacks.

Naoto considered Rise’s plan all evening when she arrived at home. Maybe it wasn’t a terrible idea. She undid the top button of her uniform shirt and looked in the mirror. It wasn’t much skin at all. Just a bit of her throat was showing. _I don’t think that’s what Rise meant by skin._ She popped a second button and let out a breath. Rise was correct; nothing was really showing, but it made for an interesting suggestion. She would go ahead with the plan, but not at school. It needed to be somewhere a little less public. Naoto pulled her phone out and composed a text.

 

_STUDY TOMORROW? Y/N_

She wasn’t big on texting, so she wasn’t sure how long was reasonable to wait for a reply. She supposed she should research texting etiquette if she was going to communicate this way more often. Ten agonizing minutes later, her phone buzzed.

 

_Uhh, sure, I guess. After school?_

_YES. JUNES AT 3:45?_

_K, I’ll be there._

 

Naoto wasn’t sure when she had started to hold her breath, but she let it out slowly now. She could do this. It wasn’t a big deal. 

The next afternoon, she hurried to Junes when school let out. She stopped in the bathroom, unbuttoning the top two buttons of her shirt and making sure it still looked alright in the mirror before proceeding to the food court to wait for Kanji. She pulled out a few textbooks and began to read before he arrived.

“Uhh, hey, Naoto,” he said. “Am I early or something?”

“Kanji-kun. You’re right on time, please have a seat,” she said nervously, gesturing to the chair beside her.

“Ok. Who else is coming, Rise?” he asked as he sat down.

“No. It’s… just us.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding surprised. _He looks disappointed_ , Naoto thought. It was too late to worry about it now. Kanji pulled out his chemistry notebook and opened it to his most recent notes. The margins were littered with sketches. Some were just random patterns, and others were full drawings. Bunnies? And bears, too. This could be the opportunity she was looking for. She leaned in towards him, looking at the drawings and then up to meet his eyes. She smiled, batting her eyelashes slightly like Rise had taught her last night. She hoped that she didn’t appear to be having a seizure or something. 

“Your sketches are very cute,” she said. Kanji blinked.

“Uhh, thanks.” He glanced down, his eyes landing on the open part of her shirt. He frowned. “What’s up with your shirt?” he asked. “Are your buttons coming loose or something? I could probably fix them if ya wanted.” He shrugged, indicating that he didn’t care either way.

“N-No,” she said, her heart sinking yet again. “But th-thank you. Shall we begin? We have quite a few chemical equations to balance.”

“Yeah. Sounds like a blast,” Kanji replied sarcastically. Naoto should have known that this would never have worked. She sighed and opened her textbook to the problem set. At least they would both get their homework done before dinner.


	6. Chapter 6

“Yosuke,” Teddie asked curiously, “why is Kanji-chan looking down Nao-chan’s shirt?” He frowned thoughtfully. “I thought it was bad to do that.”

“What?!” Yosuke asked, his eyes snapping onto their two friends on the other side of the food court. “Is she… batting her eyelashes at him? It’s so awkward that I can’t even tell if that’s what she’s really doing.”

“Be nice, Yosuke. Not everyone’s a natural like Prince Teddie,” the bear replied, batting his eyelashes in Yosuke’s face.

“Hey - cut that out!” Yosuke exclaimed, shoving him away. 

“So, what do you think they’re doing?” Teddie asked.

“It looks like they’re studying. And Naoto’s trying to flirt with Kanji. And she’s really bad at it,” he laughed. “No one’s ever going to believe this,” he added with a sigh.

“Don’t worry, Yosuke, this bear will back you up!”

“Umm, thanks, Ted. I think.”

“Do you think I should go over and say hello to them?” Teddie asked.

“No,” Yosuke replied. “I don’t think anyone should interrupt whatever that awkward moment they’re having is.” Teddie shrugged and went back to work.

_____________________________________________________________

Naoto felt like a complete idiot when she went home that evening. She hated feeling like this. Like such a… girl. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way, and she definitely wasn’t supposed to be spending time crying over a boy. She felt like such a fool. _He didn’t notice me at all._ Her phone buzzed.

 

_Heeeeyyy, Naoto-kun, how did it go with Kanji-kun? Tell me everything! ≧◡≦_

_NOTHING 2 TELL. PLAN FAILED._

_What?! Oh no, I’m sorry, are u ok? Want me 2 call you? ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚_

_NO. I AM FINE. GOODNIGHT._

 

She had no interest in being consoled. She knew that Rise meant well, but Naoto was a very different kind of girl. While the plan had seemed simple enough, it was not right for her. The problem was, she had no idea where to go from here. Her phone buzzed again. Probably Rise, determined to try and fix things. Naoto sighed and looked at the text.

 

_Hey, Naoto. Just wanted to say thanks for helping me study. Was real nice of you._

 

Despite the tears still streaming down her face, she couldn’t help smiling.

 

_UR WELCOME. ASK ME ANYTIME._

 

She didn’t wait for a reply. She went to sleep feeling hopeful, with a smile still on her face.

_____________________________________________________________

Unfortunately, nothing really changed after her ridiculous attempt at flirting. Rise kept trying to talk Naoto into giving it another try, but she just couldn’t. She had made a big enough fool of herself already. There was also another fiasco to deal with at the moment. The culture festival was coming up at school, and she had been notified by the other girls on the team (mostly by a very angry Chie) that someone had signed them all up for a beauty pageant. Naoto was glad she wasn’t alone in thinking it was totally unacceptable. She honestly could see any of the other girls agreeing to it, but not herself. It was much too soon to put herself out there in such a feminine display. She was still wearing the boys’ uniform to school, and still receiving many letters of affection from very confused girls each day. Parading around on a stage in female attire in front of the whole school was completely out of the question. Until Rise whispered in her ear on their way to the roof to confront the boys. “I bet Kanji-kun would _love_ seeing you up there looking all cute. This could be your chance to get him to notice you!”

“Wh-What? I-I don’t think… he hasn’t been interested in anything else I’ve done. So why would he want to see me l-like that?”

“Duh, Naoto-kun! Because he’s a _guy_! Guys _love_ seeing girls being all cute and sexy like that! He’ll be totally hooked once he sees you on the stage!”

“Shh! Rise-san, lower your voice. And I don’t think this will work, so I am not going to degrade myself in front of the entire school.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Chie asked. “I hope you’re working on a plan to get back at them! We need to make them pay!” Satonaka-senpai could be incredibly scary when she felt strongly about something. Thankfully, Yukiko took her arm and spoke to her softly.

“I don’t know that we need to go _that_ far, Chie. We don’t even know of they’re behind this yet,” Yukiko said gently.

“Oh, they’re the ones behind it alright! I can _feel_ it,” Chie replied. The girls arrived on the rooftop first. A few moments later, the boys showed up, looking awfully calm, as if they had no idea why they were asked to meet. “ _You_!” Chie yelled, walking up to Yosuke and stabbing a finger into his chest. “You’re the one responsible for this, aren’t you!”

“What?! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Yosuke squeaked. The rest of the conversation consisted of the two of them yelling at each other, Yosuke admitting he was guilty, Yukiko yelling at him, and Rise cheerfully asking Seta if he wanted to see all of the girls on stage. Finally, Yosuke decided to throw the other boys under the bus.

“It was mostly Teddie’s idea! You want to see them in the pageant too, don’t you Kanji? Naoto, Kanji says he really wants you to be in the pageant.” Naoto was stunned. _Could this really be true?_

“What? I never said that. I didn’t say anything at all!” Kanji insisted. 

“Silly Kanji, just tell her that you want to see her on the stage!” Rise chimed in. _Not helping, Rise._ Naoto couldn’t even form words at this point. Everyone started arguing again. After a while, Kanji made his way over to her. Naoto’s heart was pounding in her chest.

“Listen, Naoto… Don’t let them push you into anything. You don’t have to be in the pageant if you don’t want to. You should do what you want.”

“O-Oh. Th-Thank you, Kanji-kun. That’s very… helpful.” And then the bell rang. Lunch was over already. Naoto stayed back from the group a bit as they headed back down the stairs. Rise waited for her.

“What did he say to you?” she asked. “I couldn’t hear over all the shouting.”

“He said that I shouldn’t be in the pageant if it isn’t something I want to do,” Naoto answered flatly. She felt completely drained of emotion. 

“What on earth does that mean?”

“It means that he doesn’t care if I do it or not. So you can stop trying to convince me that it’s a great idea,” Naoto added. Rise took her arm and hugged her side as they walked.

“Oh, Naoto-kun. I’m sure that isn’t true. Don’t lose heart!” Naoto sighed and went back to class with a heaviness in her chest.

_____________________________________________________________

The next morning, she arrived at school to find the other three girls waiting for her at the gates. They kept giggling. _This can’t be good._ “Hey, Naoto-kun!” Chie called to her brightly. “We put our amazing revenge plan into action!”

“What plan is that?” Naoto asked, feeling alarmed. Yukiko snickered. 

“We signed the boys up for a pageant of their own!” Rise said with a wicked smile.

“It’s a.. a _cross dressing pageant!_ ” Yukiko exclaimed, falling into a fit of laughter.

“Oh, shh, Yukiko, here they come!” Chie said, punching Yukiko on the arm. “Let’s try to act like nothing’s going on. I want this to be a big surprise.”

“Heeeyyy, senpai!” Rise greeted Souji with a flirtatious smile. Naoto rolled her eyes and headed to her locker. She had a feeling it would be better not to be around when they found out.

As she expected, there was another confrontation on the roof at lunch time. Yosuke-senpai was not pleased at all. The others were a bit more accepting, especially when they realized that neither the girls or the boys could withdraw from the pageant. Once you were signed up, there was no backing out. Naoto felt bad for them, since they were in the same boat as she was. Except for Hanamura, who had brought this on all of them. Everyone dashed off when the bell rang, afraid to be late to their afternoon classes. Naoto hung back when she realized Kanji hadn’t moved at all. “I… I had nothing to do with this. They told me about it afterwards.” He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Were it up to me,” she added, ”I would have left you out of it. You had nothing to do with signing us up.” He shrugged.

“Thanks, but Hanamura would have found a way to drag us down with him anyway. So it’s all good.” Naoto nodded.

“We should go. We’re going to be late to class.” He nodded, and they walked back to class together in silence. It was going to be an interesting week at Yasogami High.


	7. Chapter 7

The Culture Festival was an embarrassing blur. Naoto was instructed to help Teddie get ready for the cross dressing pageant. She knew absolutely nothing about wearing dresses or applying makeup. Luckily, she found a box of old costumes in the drama room. She ended up dressing poor Teddie as Alice in Wonderland, complete with long, golden wig. The makeup part was more frustrating. She enlisted some unsuspecting first year girls that Teddie sparkled at into helping with it. “Hey, there’s no mascara in this kit. Go and fetch some since we’re helping you out, will you Shirogane?” one of the girls commanded. 

Naoto had no idea where she was supposed to fetch such a thing from. Then she remembered that Rise was down the hall and was sure to have something like that. She rushed into her regular classroom and ran into a wall… A wall that was wearing white silk and not much else. “Oh!” Naoto said, turning bright pink. Kanji frowned at her.

“What do you mean, ‘Oh!’ It’s that bad, isn’t it.” Kanji was also pink. It was clear that Rise had attempted to make him look like Marilyn Monroe. The dress didn’t leave much to the imagination. Naoto knew he was strong, but had no idea how much muscle he’d been hiding under his clothes. _That boy is ridiculously tall_ , she thought, staring at his muscular legs. He just kept frowning at her.

“More encouragement and less gawking, please, Naoto-kun!” Rise said cheerfully as she styled a platinum blonde wig. 

“R-Right…” Naoto stuttered. She looked into Kanji’s eyes. “You look very… appealing, Kanji-kun.” Perhaps if she was honest, he would finally understand how she felt.

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?” he said defensively. Rise giggled.

“She’s trying to tell you that she thinks you look _hot_ , Kanji-kun.” He made a face at her.

“Whatever,” he said, walking away from them.

“Sorry,” Rise said. “No matter how hard I try to translate, you two never seem to understand each other.”

“It’s fine,” Naoto said, letting out a breath. “Do you have any mascara that I can borrow?” Rise’s face lit up.

“Sure I do! I’m so excited! Do you want me to help you put it on?!”

“It’s… for Teddie,” she said with a slight blush.

“Oh. Right,” Rise said sadly. The smile was back in a flash. “I have an extra tube! You can just hang onto it, since you’ll need it for the pageant tomorrow!” Naoto sighed.

“Thank you, Rise-san.” She risked one more glance at Kanji who looked extremely distraught, before heading back to the drama room. When she arrived, Teddie’s face was all made up except for the mascara. She thrust it into the girl’s hand. “Here,” she said, stepping back before anyone could suggest she be the one to apply it. 

Teddie ended up looking prettier than most girls when all was said and done. It was rather disturbing, but Naoto was glad she hadn’t let him down. “Thanks a bunch, Nao-chan! Teddie is the prettiest!” 

Naoto watched the cross dressing pageant with the other girls from the team. She felt bad for the boys when she heard the things the other students were saying around her. _Exactly why I don’t want to do this myself._ Still, she thought they were very brave for going through with it. Naoto thought that Kanji looked the best of her three classmates. Yosuke-senpai looked ridiculous in a girls’ uniform with long socks and his hair in small pigtails. She had to give him credit for answering the questions in a high pitched voice, though. As much as he protested, he was being a good sport. Souji-senpai didn’t look the least bit bothered by getting onstage in a skirt. Though his was floor length, so no skin was even showing. Yukiko-senpai had been kind when choosing his outfit, although the long, twin braids were an interesting choice. Teddie, of course, came out sparkling in his Alice dress and completely stole the show. He was the winner by a landslide, and named honorary judge of the girls’ pageant.

Unfortunately, Teddie was Teddie, and managed to decree that the girls wear swimsuits for a portion of the beauty contest. If Naoto had known about his devious plot ahead of time, she never would have helped him win. She felt shocked and angry. The others girls seemed to feel the same way, except for Rise who was simply disappointed that she hadn’t brought her own swimsuit. There was absolutely no way that Naoto was going to wear something like that onstage. Rise, of course, thought it was a great idea. “Just think of how much Kanji-kun will like seeing you like that, Naoto-kun! He’s going to notice you for sure!” she whispered excitedly into Naoto’s ear. Naoto growled at her in response, which sent Rise into a laughing fit. To make the situation even worse, it was Teddie who picked out the swimsuits they would wear. Naoto had plans to strangle that bear later.

In the meantime, she decided to be a good sport about the first part of the pageant. The boys had gotten up there in dresses. Naoto wasn’t quite that brave, so she just wore a favorite shirt and slacks. She hated not having the security of her hat, but figured it was more proper to leave it off. At the last second, she decided that Rise might be right some of the time, and she darted into the bathroom, replicating the method she had seen that first year girl use to apply mascara on Teddie. Naoto breathed a sigh of relief when she looked at herself. It was only a subtle change. She could live with it.

She was the last to take the stage, and so nervous that she babbled random things that made no sense at all. At least it was over pretty quickly for her. The other girls had to stay on stage for much longer than she did. Her heart sank when they announced that it was time to change for the swimsuit competition. She grabbed Rise’s arm when they were off stage. “I-I can’t do this…” she said desperately.

“Oh, Naoto-kun, It will be fine! I’ll help you get ready. The mascara looks awesome, by the way!” She winked and pulled Naoto towards the locker room, grabbing the bags containing their swimsuits. _Surely Teddie wouldn’t be so cruel as to pick something completely inappropriate…_ She gasped as she pulled a dark blue bikini out of the bag. Rise, already stripping to change into hers, looked at her in alarm. “What’s wrong? It’s definitely your color.”

“The color isn’t the problem,” she said, feeling completely exasperated.

“Oh, look, it has little bows on the straps. So cute! Totally Kanji-kun’s kind of thing…” Rise trailed off, turning around so Naoto wouldn’t see her smile. Rise was done changing already. “Do you need any help?” she asked.

Naoto shook her head. “I will be right out, you go on ahead.” She pushed Rise out of the stall and pulled the curtain shut. The truth was, she had no idea if she was even going to put it on, let alone leave the changing room wearing it. 

“Come on, put it on now, I wanna see!” Rise whined. Naoto sighed and quickly changed, wondering how on earth Teddie knew her exact size. It fit perfectly. And left absolutely nothing to the imagination. She opened the curtain slightly and Rise barged in. “Wow, Naoto-kun! It looks amazing! Oh, here…” Rise slid a gold barrette into her hair, sweeping just a bit of it away from her face. “Perfect!” she exclaimed. “I’ll give you minute. Don’t be late, ok?” Naoto nodded and turned back towards the mirror. There was no way she could go out there like this. But maybe, if there was a chance that Kanji would… _No. Even if it were true, it would not be worth the entire school seeing me this way._ She realized with horror that her clothing was no longer in the dressing room. In its place was a note from Rise.

 

_I’ll just put your things in the classroom for you. See you onstage!_

 

Evidently she would need to strangle the bear _and_ the idol later. Naoto peeked out of the locker room door. She didn’t see anyone in the hall, so she quickly ran towards the classroom, intending to get her clothes back before anyone saw her. Naturally, when she turned the corner, she walked straight into a wall… the same wall as earlier. “K-Kanji-kun!” she exclaimed. He said nothing as he took in her attire. _If you can even call it that_ , she thought.

“Naoto…” he said slowly. Then his face lit up in a huge grin. “You look very appealing.”

“Oh, stop it!” she said, wrapping her arms around the front of her body. He was chuckling, obviously very pleased with himself for throwing her words back at her. She had only put this ridiculous thing on in an attempt to draw his interest, and instead he was making fun of her.

“You alright? ‘Cause I mean, you’re going the wrong way.” She looked at the ground, trying to make her arms cover even more of her body and failing miserably.

“I-I can’t… I really can’t go out there like this.” He nodded and shrugged out his coat, setting it on her shoulders. She quickly slipped her arms in and wrapped it around her.

“Told you already that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Go. I won’t tell the others I saw you.”

“Thank you… Oh, y-your coat…” He stopped her from taking it off.

“Give it back to me later.” With that, he headed the other way, disappearing back into the auditorium. She let out the breath she’d been holding, then ran for the classroom, grateful that his coat was so big it covered her nearly to her knees.


	8. Chapter 8

Naoto skipped the rest of the culture festival entirely. She was too embarrassed, so she went straight home after locating her clothes. Rise had hidden them pretty well in the classroom. Several team members tried to contact her, but she ignored their texts and phone calls. The most disturbing message was from Rise. 

 

_OMG Naoto-kun! You WON the pageant! ┏(＾0＾)┛┗(＾0＾) ┓_

 

It was apparent that the entire student body was insane. She left halfway through the competition, and it should have disqualified her. Naoto frowned as she scrolled through several more texts from friends congratulating her. There was one from each member of the team, except for Kanji. She tossed her phone on the bed, and decided that she needed to forget about this nonsense for awhile. She headed for the bathroom, taking a long, hot shower to clear her head.

Once she was feeling normal again, she headed out, stopping at Souzai Daigaku for a quick bite to eat. She would have preferred something from the tofu shop, but there was no way she wanted to run into Rise right now. So she settled for some steak skewers. Then she headed towards her real destination, anxious to get this errand out of the way. Once it was done, she could go home and sleep and forget that today ever happened. She walked up the steps of the textile shop. Naoto hadn’t realized how late it was; the shop was already closed. She tapped softly on the door, anyway. Just when she was about to give up and head back home, the door opened. “Naoto? What are you doing here?” Kanji asked.

“Oh, I-I wanted to return your jacket. Thank you for loaning it to me, Kanji-kun.” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“You came all the way out here just for that? Could have just given it to me at school tomorrow.”

“I thought you would need it. And… I had some errands in the shopping district anyway.” He glanced at her hands, seeming to notice the lack of any shopping bags or other evidence that she had acquired anything on her imaginary “errands”.

“Right. Uhh, you wanna come in? I should have asked sooner, didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Oh, I… for a minute, yes. I don’t want to keep you.” He ushered her through the door of the shop. 

“You know, Naoto… Friends do this sort of thing. Stopping by, I mean. You don’t have to feel like you’re interrupting.” 

Her eyes widened. _Keep your cool, Shirogane._ “Yes, of course. Do the others visit often?”

Kanji shrugged. Souji-senpai does. Sometimes he brings Nanako-chan and we do crafts together. Yukiko-senpai comes by to pick up orders for the inn pretty often. And Ted likes to barge in a lot -” He stopped himself when Naoto raised an eyebrow at him. “I mean, he’s Ted. Even if it’s nice to see him, he runs around touching everything and saying weird things in front of Ma. So barging in is the right words for it.” Naoto giggled. Kanji looked surprised, but she chose to ignore it. 

“Were you working on a project when I interrupted?” she asked. He nodded. “Can I see?” 

“Uhh, yeah, sure, I guess. Just a scarf.” He pulled his scarf-in-progress out from behind the counter. She couldn’t help but touch it because it looked so soft. It was a pattern of rich blues with a bit of a cream color weaved in between.

“It’s _beautiful_ ,” she said, still touching the yarn, “ I love the colors.”

“Yeah?” he asked. He looked as if he was trying not to laugh. _Do I look that ridiculous, gushing over a scarf?_

“I do,” she answered honestly. “Rise-san said you like to make stuffed animals. I wasn’t aware that you also did things like this.” He just shrugged. She was aware that he was staring at her and the look on his face was odd. Curiosity, maybe. “I should let you get back to it,” she said, finally pulling herself away from his project. “Thank you again for… helping me out this afternoon.” She walked to the door and pulled it open.

“Naoto?” he called out. She stopped and looked back at him. “You looked good. This afternoon.”

“O-Oh... “ _What on earth am I supposed to say to that?_

“But I guess you didn’t need to get up there in a sexy swimsuit to win,” he said, with a stupid grin on his face. 

“I suppose not,” she said, smiling back slightly and walking outside, closing the door behind her. _Did he just use sexy in a sentence while talking about me? Maybe Rise-san wasn’t far off the mark after all._ Her mood had lightened enough that she forgot to be on the lookout when she passed the tofu shop.

“Oh, Naoto-kun!” Rise exclaimed, practically pouncing on her as she attempted to walk by. “You look… happy. Did something happen?” she asked with a smile of her own.

“No… not really,” Naoto answered, smiling back.

“You’re really not going to tell me?” Rise asked, sitting down on the steps with a sad look on her face.

“I’m really not. I’m sorry for walking out today.”

“Oh, it’s fine. To be honest, we pretty much all expected you to, anyway. As proud as I am of you, I have to admit that it stung a little, being beat by someone who didn’t even participate in the second part,” Rise admitted with a weak laugh. Naoto put her arm around Rise’s shoulders.

“I have to admit I wish they had disqualified me and given you the win instead.” Rise looked at her, beaming as she snuggled into the hug. It was rare for Naoto to show affection like that.

“Something definitely happened to make you this cuddly.”

“Did not,” Naoto said with a chuckle.

“It’s okay. You’ll tell me eventually. Maybe even at school tomorrow!”

“Definitely not at school,” Naoto said, glaring at her. She said goodnight to Rise, heading home to get a good night’s sleep.

___________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, she ran into Satonaka-senpai on the walk in to school. “Hey, Naoto-kun!” Chie shouted, running to catch up. “That was some pageant win, yesterday. I think it’s cool that you stood up for your rights and still won!”

“Thank you, Chie-senpai. I am sorry that I ran away instead of showing solidarity.” Chie shrugged.

“It’s no big deal. To tell you the truth, I thought about not doing it, too. You’re really lucky, though. Since none of the guys have seen you in a bikini, you don’t have to hear about it forever! Hanamura is never going to shut up!”

“None of them… you’re right. I am absolutely lucky about that.” The first bell rang as soon as they entered the school gates. 

“Oh, that’s the bell already! I can’t be late again, see you at lunch!” Chie exclaimed as she ran off towards the second floor. Naoto took her time at her locker since her classroom was on the first floor. She walked in to find Rise pestering Kanji about something. She lowered her voice when she saw Naoto approaching.

“I’m just saying, you should tell me if you like her!” Rise said in the loudest whisper imaginable.

“And I’m just saying, shut it!” Kanji whispered back. Naoto said nothing, taking her seat as the second bell rang. Neither of them looked her way at all during the morning classes. Rise waited for her when the bell rang for lunch.

“I hope that wasn’t about me,” Naoto said quietly as they walked up the stairs to the roof.

“What?” Rise asked, seeming distracted. She pushed open the door at the top and started running. “Senpai!” she exclaimed, throwing herself at Seta. Naoto sat down beside Yukiko, who was watching Chie and Yosuke shout at each other.

“What are they fighting about now?” Naoto asked.

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Yukiko answered. They ate in silence for awhile. Kanji was on the other side of the roof, frowning at Rise who was still throwing herself at Souji. “You know,” Yukiko said thoughtfully, “you really should just tell him how you feel.”

“Excuse me? Tell what to whom?” Naoto asked.

“Kanji-kun. Oh come on, Naoto-kun. You never take your eyes off of him.” 

Naoto’s face fell. “Is it really that obvious?” Yukiko smiled kindly.

“Yes, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I think you would be great together. So you should just tell him and get on with it.”

“I’ve tried. I haven’t outright told him how I feel, but I have done things that should have made it apparent.”

“Maybe Kanji-kun is the sort of boy who needs to hear it to understand it,” Yukiko said encouragingly. “And you aren’t the only ones who need to get on with it,” she added.” I would rather those two just kiss each other instead of screaming at each other through lunch every day. It really ruins my appetite.” Naoto laughed. Maybe Yukiko was right. Maybe she had been going at this the wrong way all along.


	9. Chapter 9

The problem with telling a boy how you feel, was actually having to tell him. Naoto believed that Amagi-senpai was correct. She just needed to tell Kanji how she felt about him, and be done with it. If he didn’t like her, she would deal with it. She didn’t expect him to feel that way to begin with, so it shouldn’t even hurt too much. Right? Every time she even thought about telling him, her heart started to pound. Each time she spent any amount of time alone with him, she started sentences that she couldn’t finish. Before she knew it, weeks had gone by. She was frustrated with herself and her inability to control the situation. On top of that, she was also frustrated with the case, which had not progressed at all since her own kidnapping. Even when the notes began to arrive, there were no leads as to who the suspect could be.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before someone appeared on the Midnight Channel, and it turned out to be Seta-senpai’s six year old cousin, Nanako. Naoto immediately tried Seta’s number, and got no answer. She tried Rise, Chie and Yukiko, none of which knew where Souji was. Hanamura likely did know, but she didn’t have his number, so she sucked it up and dialed Kanji. Thankfully he answered immediately. It turned out that Dojima-san had dragged Souji to the police station, and had taken his phone away. Kanji and Yosuke were already on their way down there. Naoto ran as fast as she could to the Dojima residence, at the same time calling Chie back, asking her to spread the word to the other girls. After inspecting the house, she headed to the station to let the others know that the front door had been open and no one was home. Dojima-san had already taken off to search for Nanako when the teens discovered something in the case files. The deliveryman, Taro Namatame, fit the requirements for abducting Nanako-chan. She never opened the door to strangers. With how frequently Souji had been ordering from Tanaka’s Amazing Commodities, the deliveryman would not have been a stranger to Nanako. Unfortunately, Dojima’s idiot partner Adachi phoned him the information, which caused Dojima to crash his car while pursuing Namatame.

After confirming that Namatame had gone into the TV with Nanako, the investigation team spent the next two weeks searching for them. The battles were long and hard, and it took huge amounts of energy just to climb one floor of the tower. Despite the shadows, it looked like heaven. Nanako’s storybook version of where her mother had gone after death. Spending every night fighting was taking a toll on the entire team, both mentally and physically. When they finally got to the top and fought Namatame, something very strange happened. Naoto and Kanji were on the same team, which was not a regular occurrence. Despite how hard they were fighting alongside Souji and Teddie, they were losing badly. Until Kanji and Naoto’s personas did a combined attack. Naoto had heard some of the others talk about this happening before. From what she understood, Chie and Yukiko had a combination attack, and so did Yosuke and Teddie. When she asked Chie about it, she said she thought it was because they were such close friends. And no matter how much Yosuke tried to deny it, he took care of Teddie like an older brother, letting him stay at his house and making sure nothing bad happened to him. Naoto didn’t understand why her persona would feel that close to Kanji’s. They had barely even fought together. Whatever it meant, it allowed them to gain an advantage and, with the others fighting and healing, they eventually overpowered Namatame.

When they pulled Nanako and Namatame out of the television, both were taken to the hospital. Nanako did not seem to be handling the time spent in the TV world well. Her condition was critical even though the doctors were unable to find anything physically wrong with her. The entire team was on edge, waiting in the hall outside her room while Souji and Dojima sat with her. Most of the girls were crying. Naoto couldn’t help but blame herself. She should have been able to figure out who the culprit was in time to prevent this from happening! She was a failure as a detective. When she expressed these opinions out loud, Kanji yelled at her. Loudly, and in front of everyone. He was right of course, and she acknowledged that. It still made her feel even worse. 

Nanako’s hospital stay was an emotional time for the entire group. No one quite knew what to say to each other, especially when she took a turn for the worse and everyone thought she had died. They almost made a very unwise decision regarding Namatame. That had also been Naoto’s idea. She had no idea before that moment that she was capable of being heartless. It was also a little bit shocking that Yosuke and Kanji had agreed with her. If Souji hadn’t stopped them, they would have made one of the worst mistakes of their lives that night. In the end, Nanako pulled through, and they chose to believe that Namatame was not the mastermind behind the killings.

Naoto found herself almost walking all the way to Kanji’s house every evening. And each time, she convinced herself that the timing wasn’t right, turned around, and went back home. She wanted desperately to tell him how she felt, but she was afraid she would be exploiting both of their emotional states. Everyone on the team was extremely needy right now, and she didn’t want him to think that was all this was. She especially didn’t want him to admit to feelings for her that weren’t real. So she continued to justify waiting.

When Nanako-chan was released from the hospital, everyone was in better spirits. They had a party to celebrate her homecoming. Christmas came soon after that. Naoto spent Christmas Eve at home alone, wondering what she would have been doing if she had been brave enough to confess her feelings before now. She decided to go for a walk, and naturally ended up in the shopping district. _What are you doing, Shirogane? This is ridiculous!_ She walked quietly by the textile shop, peeking in the door to see if Kanji was there. He was.. and she felt completely relieved. She knew it was irrational and none of her business to begin with, but she had been afraid he would be on a Christmas Eve date with another girl. She let out a breath when she saw him inside the shop, showing stuffed bunnies to a dark haired little boy who seemed extremely excited. She smiled at the scene before her, watching Kanji smile at the boy. It was the most genuine smile she had ever seen on his face. Unfortunately, she stayed too long, frozen in place. He looked up in her direction, still with that disarming smile still on his face. “Hey, Naoto. What’s up?” he called out to her.

She waved, smile faltering. “Just out for a walk. I thought I would see if Rise-san is home,” she lied. _Although, that wasn’t a bad idea. Better than sitting at home feeling lonely all night._

“Oh. Well tell her I said hi,” he said, returning his attention to the boy. Naoto sighed quietly and headed off toward the tofu shop. When she arrived, she found Rise’s grandmother in the store, with no sign of Rise. 

“Good evening, Kujikawa-san. Is Rise-san in?”

“Oh, Naoto-kun. I’m sorry, but she had a date tonight, with Souji-kun.” Kujikawa-san’s eyes sparkled.

“I see,” Naoto said, trying not to sound disappointed. “I will see her after the holidays, then.” She tipped her hat and left the store, not sure where to go from here. She didn’t feel like going home just yet. Her feet took her to Junes for some reason. Habit, she supposed. She ran into a familiar face in the food court.

“Nao-chan!” Teddie called out to her, jumping up and down and waving.

“Hello, Teddie. Are you working on Christmas Eve?” she asked with a frown.

“Oh, no! I’m just waiting for Yosuke to finish his shift, and Kanji-chan to get here! Then we’re going to get some snacks and go to Yosuke’s house!”

“Oh,” Naoto said. “Sounds like a fun evening. Have a good time, Teddie.”

“Oh, do you want to come, too, Nao-chan?! I bet everyone would be thrilled if a _bearutiful_ lady like yourself joined our party!”

Naoto laughed. “No thank you, Teddie.”

“Are you sure? Because like I said, _Kanji-chan_ will be there!” Teddie exclaimed. Naoto glared at him.

“I heard you the first time. What is it that you’re implying, Teddie?”

“Oh, just that me and Yosuke saw you batting your eyelashes and _flirty flirting_ with Kanji-chan before, so I figured you might say yes!” Teddie said this while sparkling and batting his own eyelashes. Naoto turned a deep shade of red.

“I-I have to go now, Teddie.” She almost walked away before she decided that she needed some reassurance. “And.. please don’t mention anything about that. To anyone.”

“Not even to Kanji-chan?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“ _Especially_ not to Kanji-kun,” she answered.

“Oh. Alright, Nao-chan. I won’t say anything,” Teddie said, drawing an x over his heart.

“Thank you, Teddie,” she said with relief. It looked like Naoto would be spending Christmas alone. She knew she shouldn’t feel so glad that Kanji would be hanging out with the boys, but she did. Hopefully the bear was able to keep his mouth shut.


	10. Chapter 10

Before Naoto knew it, it was New Year’s Day. She was surprised when she bumped into Souji-senpai by the river. “Oh, hey, Naoto-kun! Great, you just saved me a bus ride. Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year, senpai,” Naoto responded.

“Are you alright? You seem a little bit down,” he commented. Naoto sighed.

“I am fine. You know, senpai, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Oh yeah? Go ahead,” he insisted.

“When we fought with Namatame, my persona and Kanji’s did a combination attack.” Souji nodded, and she continued. “I was under the impression that our teammates have only executed combined attacks with people who they are very close to. Why do you think that my persona and Kanji’s would work together like that? We have barely even fought together.”

Souji tried to hide his smile. It had sort of a sad edge to it, like he regretted not being able to tell her something. “I think that you should probably ask Kanji about that,” he said.

“But senpai -”

“No,” he cut her off. “This is between the two of you. I can’t give you any answers,” he said kindly but firmly. Naoto nodded.

“I understand, senpai. I’ll let you get back to your New Year’s greetings.” Souji left with a wave and a smile. Naoto knew he was right, but she wasn’t sure how to even bring up the subject with Kanji. It seemed she had a lot to talk to him about, and lacked the courage for any of it.

______________________________________________________________________

A few weeks later, once Nanako-chan’s health had been officially cleared, and she and Dojima-san were back at home, the team planned a last big outing before Souji-senpai had to move back to the city. Unfortunately for Naoto, they were going on a ski trip, and she had no idea how to ski. By the time they arrived at the lodge, Naoto was having an anxiety attack. “I-I don’t think I can do this, I really don’t know a thing about skiing,” she admitted to the others.

“Don’t worry, Naoto-kun! Kanji-kun can teach you!” Rise declared loudly. Naoto looked at her in alarm. “Isn’t that right, Kanji-kun?” Rise added with a smile.

“Uhh, yeah, sure. I mean, if you want.” Naoto turned pink.

“I wouldn’t want to prevent you from having fun, Kanji-kun.”

He shrugged. “It’s fine. Not a big deal."

“A-Alright, then,” she answered shyly.

“Great!” Rise chimed in. “Senpai will be helping me since I’m still a beginner, too!” She clung to Souji’s arm possessively. 

“Really?" Yosuke asked Souji. Souji just shrugged. The teens all got ready and headed to the slopes for their first day of skiing. Naoto was completely terrified, even with Kanji’s help. And when she fell over right on top of him, she felt completely mortified. _It was rather interesting being that close, though_ , she thought. After hours of skiing and snowboarding, the group was tired and hungry. They ate in the lodge’s restaurant before heading to their private suite. It had a living area with a fireplace, and two large bedrooms. One for the boys, and one for the girls. 

After resting for awhile, Hanamura-senpai decided it would be fun for them all to go back out and do some night skiing. Most of the others seemed excited and started getting ready to go. “Come on, Naoto-kun!” Rise exclaimed cheerfully.

“I think I am going to stay here. I’m rather tired after today,” she insisted.

“Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense since you’re a brand new skier. How about you, Kanji-kun, aren’t you going to get ready?”

“Nah,” he answered. “I’d rather rest tonight so I won’t be tired when we go back out tomorrow.” Rise grinned and then ran off to the girls’ bedroom to change. 

Naoto took a breath before speaking. “You should go… have some fun without me holding you back.”

Kanji looked at her, then picked up a magazine and started leafing through it. “Rather stay here if that’s ok.”

“Oh,” she said, brightening slightly. “Sure.” She picked up the detective novel she had brought and pretended to read until the others all left for their adventure. Her heart was pounding so hard that she couldn’t concentrate on any of the words, anyway. Kanji put down the magazine he had been pretending to be interested in, and sat down beside her on the couch in front of the fire. She set her book aside and turned to face him. “There’s… something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” she began slowly.

“Yeah? What’s that?” he asked, focusing on a loose thread on his sleeve.

“Kanji,” she said, and he looked at her. “I.. I like you.” He said nothing. Nothing at all. He just kept searching her face. “I-I mean… I _like_ you, like you. Not… not just as a friend.”

His face broke out into a huge smile. “Really? I mean, you’re sure?” He took her by such surprise that she laughed.

“I am most certainly sure,” she said. She felt relief when his smile came back.

“I like you too, Naoto.” _Wait, what?!_

“Y-You do? Since when?”

“The whole time,” he admitted quietly. This would certainly explain the combined attack.

“W-Why didn’t you say something?” she asked. 

“I didn’t think you’d like me that way… so I kept it to myself. Senpai knew, but nobody else did. Wait, how long have you liked _me_?”

“Since… the day I met you,” she said with a slight blush. His smile grew so big that it reminded her of how he had looked at the boy with the bunnies, only better. Before Naoto knew what was happening, his arms were around her and they were kissing. “I… would have told you sooner had I known you would react like this.” Kanji laughed and kissed her again.

“Hey, Naoto…” he began. “Valentine’s Day is coming up in a couple of days.”

“Is it?” she asked, snuggling into his side. He was even warmer than the fire.

“Do you want to do something together after school that day?”

“I would like that,” she said, sighing with contentment. Naoto spent a long time with Kanji by the fire, until they heard their friends returning, and ran off to their rooms on opposite sides of the suite.

______________________________________________________________________

On Valentine’s Day, the team gathered in the senpais’ classroom at the end of the school day. The other girls had brought small boxes of chocolates to pass out to their friends. Yosuke-senpai kept whining about only receiving “friendzone” chocolates. He failed to notice that while they were store bought and not homemade, the box Chie handed him was a bit larger than the ones she gave to everyone else. “Hey, I have an idea!” Chie exclaimed, changing her expression from sad to excited. Why don’t those of us who don’t have a Valentine’s date meet up at Junes this afternoon!”

“Oh, that sounds like fun, Chie. I’ll come for sure,” Yukiko said.

“I’ll send Teddie a text and tell him to meet us at the food court!” Yosuke said brightly. Neither Rise nor Souji said anything at all. 

“How about you, Kanji-kun?” Chie asked.

“Umm… I have… plans,” he said. Chie frowned at him, then turned to Naoto.

“Naoto-kun? Will you come?” she asked.

“I.. can’t make it either,” Naoto answered. Chie was quiet for a moment before switching gears again.

“I _knew_ it!” she exclaimed.

“You did _not_ know it!” Yosuke shouted back. “You’re the _only_ one who didn’t know it!”

“That’s not true! I at least knew before Yosuke did!” Chie retorted.

“I’ve known for months! You’ve known for a second!” he shouted back. Naoto shook her head, laughing at her friends.

______________________________________________________________________

After they left school, Naoto and Kanji walked to the river together. They sat next to each other in the gazebo. Naoto slipped a shiny, blue, heart-shaped box from her bag and handed it to him. He opened the lid to find handmade chocolates in the shape of penguins. This made him smile happily. “Thanks.”

“I hope they’re alright. I’ve never made chocolates for anyone before.”

“They’re perfect,” he insisted. “I know guys are supposed to wait until White Day to reciprocate, so I hope you don’t mind that I brought you a little something, too.” Naoto raised an eyebrow. “It’s actually been done for awhile. Thought about giving it to you on Christmas Eve, but I lost my nerve and you ran off before I could get it back.” He pulled something from his bag and handed it to her. It was the blue and cream scarf she had seen him working on months ago.

“It was for _me_?” she asked. Kanji nodded. “I love it,” she said, holding the soft scarf to her cheek. It still smelled like him. “Thank you,” she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek. They spent the rest of the afternoon together, and every afternoon after that. Naoto was so glad that she had finally told Kanji how she felt. She didn’t want to miss a moment more with him.


End file.
